Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Length: 1000-1250 words (not including Works Cited) in MLA format, 12-point font

Source limit: One (1) source minimum

You must include a Works Cited page and use correct MLA format for in-text (parenthetical) citations.

Use the Writing-Assignment Rubric as a checklist for how your paper should be presented, and use the Essay Template for further insight if need.

Due: Sunday, 26 September by 11:59pm to the discussion board as outlined below.

For this assignment, you will write an analysis and interpretation of the rhetorical strategies and techniques used by a writer in constructing a written text. You may write you essay based off of the “a modest Proposal” document linked below.

AUDIENCE: Imagine your favorite English teacher from high school has asked you to write an essay they will share with their students as both exemplary of rhetorical analysis and as an introduction for their students to the document you choose. Imagine that the class will have NO PRIOR familiarity with the document you write about.

The purpose of this assignment is to think and write critically about a text. The skills you use in this exercise also apply to the image you analyze for your Visual Rhetorical Analysis Essay and the research you use in your Academic Research Essay. In this paper, you will analyze a piece of writing selected by you from the above list.

To begin your analysis, look at the different rhetorical information and guidelines provided in the chapters of the first two sections (Understanding Arguments and Writing Arguments) of our textbook that we have covered and other writing strategies we have discussed in class, such as the writers backing of a claim, use of evidence, logic (or logical fallacies), organizational strategies, style, humor, and/or tone.

Choose an approach and be selective: you cannot cover all of these elements in a single paper.

You must have a thesis (an interpretation) about the piece of writing being analyzed and elements of its rhetoric.

You might, for example, write a thesis that addresses a single important technique of the writer, a few of the central strategies used by the writer to structure the piece, or the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the piece in achieving its purpose for a particular audience, using selected criteria. It is fine to have a nuanced thesis that does not conclude the piece is entirely good or entirely bad. Remember that these pieces are composed by published, respected writers who have quality to their writing; at the same time, you may find gaps in the writing, disagree with the logic or approach, or find significant concerns that are not addressed by the piece. While you may include a very brief summary of what the writer says, summary should only be a small portion of your essay, and you should concentrate on developing your argument/thesis about the piece, using evidence and insight to support your claim.

The essay should include a Work or Works Cited page.

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